Thread: What will it take for Bears offense to take off?

Originally Posted by JustAnotherBearsFan99

I'm not saying I disagree, but my gut feeling is that Cutler pretty much runs the show now, and Tice is just along for the ride. I just don't see Cutler allowing Tice to do this.

If that truly was the state of affairs Webb would be on the bench.

Originally Posted by short faced bear

If that truly was the state of affairs Webb would be on the bench.

The problem there is that we don't have anyone on the bench or roster who is a decent LT. Jay knows that.

I'm not saying it's "right" but Jay is getting what Jay wants right now. He got B.Marsh. Martz let go. His old coach hired as the QB coach. And now he wants to play with B.Marsh, his new toy all the time. I just don't think anyone is going to tell Jay "no" about this. Jay has all the power. Jay runs the show. Jay gets what Jay wants.

My gut feeling is that Cutler is in a rare position that trumps the OC on this team (it was the same with Martz too....that's why Martz is gone). If Tice ticks off Cutler, he'll be gone too.

BTW, Tice knows this as well as anyone.

The offense is making too many mental mistakes early. Individually, they don't seem to matter much, but cumulatively they are drive-killers. We have stupid (really stupid) penalties, like false starts, we have WR's drop passes, we have a blocker allow a sack, we have Cutler hold on to the ball too long and get nailed and fumble - or - throw an int.

It's not one thing.

The common denominator is that these are all mental failures. They add up to 3-and-outs, failed drives & turnovers. Against a truly solid opponent they will add up to more failure than our defense can overcome.

Originally Posted by JustAnotherBearsFan99

The problem there is that we don't have anyone on the bench or roster who is a decent LT. Jay knows that.

I'm not saying it's "right" but Jay is getting what Jay wants right now. He got B.Marsh. Martz let go. His old coach hired as the QB coach. And now he wants to play with B.Marsh, his new toy all the time. I just don't think anyone is going to tell Jay "no" about this. Jay has all the power. Jay runs the show. Jay gets what Jay wants.

My gut feeling is that Cutler is in a rare position that trumps the OC on this team (it was the same with Martz too....that's why Martz is gone). If Tice ticks off Cutler, he'll be gone too.

BTW, Tice knows this as well as anyone.

I don't know about all that. Jay would have at least have Webb sit down a few plays if he were truly running the show after the spat.

One would also realize that Bmarsh would need to rest to keep "his toy" in good working order and I don't believe Jay is ignorant of the fact his mechanics, progressions, and field awareness has suffered. The more he can do the more valuable he becomes esp. come contract time.

Plus Bates would be in his ear about this. From the things Jay can say and do I don't believe he's so selfish as to dominate his OC. It benefits no one.

Originally Posted by short faced bear

I don't know about all that. Jay would have at least have Webb sit down a few plays if he were truly running the show after the spat.

One would also realize that Bmarsh would need to rest to keep "his toy" in good working order and I don't believe Jay is ignorant of the fact his mechanics, progressions, and field awareness has suffered. The more he can do the more valuable he becomes esp. come contract time.

Plus Bates would be in his ear about this. From the things Jay can say and do I don't believe he's so selfish as to dominate his OC. It benefits no one.

You may be right. But I don't look at this as Cutler thinking he's selfish. I think he BELIEVES he knows better than anyone else. He doesn't see himself as being the bad guy, but the smart guy. Smarter than Tice, and smarter than Bates. And Bates and Tice know that Cutler is untouchable right now and can do about anything and get away with it. He has max juice. Tice and Bates are expendable if it ever comes to a choice between one of them and Jay.

Martz found this out.

Originally Posted by JustAnotherBearsFan99

The problem there is that we don't have anyone on the bench or roster who is a decent LT. Jay knows that.

I'm not saying it's "right" but Jay is getting what Jay wants right now. He got B.Marsh. Martz let go. His old coach hired as the QB coach. And now he wants to play with B.Marsh, his new toy all the time. I just don't think anyone is going to tell Jay "no" about this. Jay has all the power. Jay runs the show. Jay gets what Jay wants.

My gut feeling is that Cutler is in a rare position that trumps the OC on this team (it was the same with Martz too....that's why Martz is gone). If Tice ticks off Cutler, he'll be gone too.

BTW, Tice knows this as well as anyone.

Nah, I think that's overstating it by a long shot. I really do.

Marshall is getting more than his fair share of play because 9 time out of 10 he'll catch the ball even when he's covered. He's been proving that for years now with lesser QBs than Jay and nobody can fit a ball through a tighter window than he can.

Even Marshall is saying the other need more looks and I think once we start using Jeffery and Bennett more in place of Hester that will happen. The "Hester Package" isn't materializing and needs to go away for now. Back to the basics of running the ball and operating a better short game early on.

The protection seems to get better as the game goes on so why challenge down field early. Force the outside coverage up and the LBs to drop back to prevent those little 7-10 yard gainers then once the run game is moving use play action to strike deeper. The plays are there but the sequencing is terrible until they adjust.

That just tells me that the game plans either aren't very good from the get go or the execution is terrible. Quite a few of those sacks are coming very early in the game as are fumbles and picks. That's a great way to get your team in the hole early and a pretty poor way to establish a rhythm and some offensive consistency.

If there's a fault here it's Tice and maybe Bates as well putting Cutler at risk far too soon every game. Cutler won't quit on a play so he tries to make something happen to avoid a second or third and long and that's where the mistakes are being made. I understand the need for balance but the type of plays he's calling early and the sequencing of them seems out of whack to me.

I'm not disagreeing with Shorty's original point. My only comment is that I don't think you can force Cutler to do anything he doesn't want to do. Not now.

He's going to throw to who he wants, when he wants. We've already seen how much he cares about OC's. Martz? Tice? They don't control anything Cutler does.

I'm not trying to paint Cutler as a jerk. I'm just pointing out that he has the power to do about anything he wants. And he's not doing this to be a jerk. He truly believes he knows better than anyone else. I think we've seen that. Martz learned it the hard way.

There IS a "positive" to this. Cutler got the 1 WR in the NFL he wanted. Marshall. He got the 1 QB coach he wanted. Bates. We'll never know for sure if his icy relationship with Martz got MM fired, but it sure didn't help. Martz is gone.

So. I would expect the offensive line will finally get fixed this off-season. Especially with the Bears wanting to re-sign Cutler to another contract. Jay will hold their feet to the fire. Jay will get his way. Which is "good" for the fans and the team too. We will FINALLY see a decent oline in Chicago.

That's just my 2 cents worth. It could be pure trash, but that's how I see it.